Chapter Two
Baozhu seemed to be trapped in a nightmare from which she could never wake up.
Putting aside the physical pain, her soul seemed to have been severely damaged as well, as some strange force was tearing her apart.
The jewel fell into the boundless darkness.
Keep going down, down.
In a daze, unaware of how much time had passed, a white light suddenly appeared in Baozhu's eyes.
Within the radiance lay endless allure and power. Baozhu's soul drifted toward the direction indicated by the light, and a narrow path suddenly appeared beneath her feet. On both sides of the path, countless wild spirits, their faces indistinct, reached out unwillingly to reach for her.
"You're just lucky, you have some natural talent, what makes you so special?"
"Stay..."
Those faces murmured ominous words, and a chilling ghostly aura seeped into the jewel through their fingertips.
It's so cold.
Baozhu trembled uncontrollably. She dared not stop and chased after the white light with all her might.
After an unknown amount of time, the white light suddenly stopped.
Baozhu stopped abruptly, caught off guard.
She looked up blankly and saw the white light disappear little by little, leaving only a tiny dot the size of a pinhead.
Where am I now?
Baozhu was lost in thought, wanting to reach out and touch her cheek.
It seemed that water had dripped onto her face.
She tried to block the damp touch, but her hand landed on a steaming patch of fur.
Suddenly, she broke free from the darkness that had enveloped her and opened her eyes.
Before her stood a pair of wide, bronze eyes, staring at her intently in the dim light.
It is a wild beast.
Baozhu's eyes widened as well.
The next instant, the wet touch appeared on her cheek again, along with a warm breath that enveloped her face.
She subconsciously pushed the person in front of her away, and said reproachfully, "Alright, you've licked my face so hard it hurts."
Baozhu's senses returned to her body from the void. She looked at the yellow-eyed, red fox in front of her, which had been whining and trying to burrow into her arms after she had pushed it away. She was somewhat unaware of what year it was.
"How are you still alive?" she murmured. "After all these decades, you little beast are still alive in this world."
As if understanding what Baozhu said, the red fox roared angrily, stepped back from her embrace, raised its front paw, and stomped hard.
Clearly, it was very dissatisfied with what Baozhu had just said.
Seeing that Baozhu did not respond to her expressed dissatisfaction, the red fox shouted again and suddenly bit Baozhu's hand, leaving a mark on her hand.
Baozhu hissed in pain and quickly pulled her hand back, angrily saying, "You bite me whenever you're unhappy. One day I'll definitely pluck all the hair off your body!"
After saying that, she instinctively reached out to grab the red fox's ear.
But in the end, she didn't actually grab him; Baozhu's hand stopped in mid-air.
"I've been away from Qiling for so long. You are different from me; you're just a wild fox in the mortal realm without any intelligence. How could you have survived until now?"
"And... I should already be dead."
Baozhu recalled the power that had destroyed her moments before, and shuddered in fear.
But she didn't die.
She lowered her hand, slowly stood up, and took in her surroundings.
It was a small cave, filled with some crooked, clumsy, and ugly things that looked very familiar. They were things she had made herself when she first gained sentience, imitating the styles of ordinary people's homes that she had secretly observed.
This was her home with the red fox more than twenty years ago.
Baozhu gasped and stumbled out of the cave.
Outside the cave, a vast expanse of lush forest appeared before her.
It feels so familiar; I seem to have dreamt about it many times.
This is the place she never returned to after leaving in pursuit of Li Zhi; it's her hometown.
Baozhu was overcome with grief, and her vision suddenly blurred.
The red fox followed Baozhu out of the cave, puzzled. Seeing her standing there motionless, it became unhappy again and opened its mouth to bite her calf.
It was just an ordinary fox, not particularly clever. It was just a sister born of the same mother, but there were some differences between them. It had heard something interesting today and wanted to share it with Baozhu, but it couldn't bear to see her so absent-minded.
The red fox used a bit more force than usual, its mouth agape in resentment.
Baozhu was overjoyed to find herself back decades in the past, and had no time to be wary of her furry sisters. Before she knew it, she was bitten hard on the foot, and cried out in pain. She slapped the red fox and yelled, "You thing, you have no sense of proportion when you bite!"
Satisfied after being slapped, the red fox released its grip, its bronze eyes darting around. It whined at her for a while before turning and heading into the mountains.
"What's all the excitement about? You just had to make me go see it." Baozhu rubbed her calf and complained, but she still followed along.
This forest is where the sisters were born. Under every tree and along every stream, there are traces of their playtime together. No matter how fast the red fox darts through the forest, Baozhu can keep up effortlessly.
But the further Baozhu walked, the slower her pace became.
The red fox turned back several times in confusion, its yellow eyes full of bewilderment. It slowed its pace, as if it realized something was wrong, and slowly approached Baozhu, gently nudging her hand with its cool nose.
Baozhu shook her head and forced a smile: "I'm fine, I just remembered."
So she went back to that day.
Now, if they walk a little further, they will see the small village surrounded by mountains. In the first few years after their birth, every ordinary person in the village who had been to the mountains became familiar with them.
Humans are nothing special; they have only two eyes and a mouth. After seeing them for a while, the two foxes lost interest. The red fox would occasionally sneak into the village to steal chickens and ducks for a treat, but Baozhu wouldn't even bother to give it a glance.
Their lives should have continued peacefully like this.
Even today.
This morning, as soon as the red fox opened its eyes, for some reason, it suddenly craved a little chick. Before dawn, it got up early and wandered into the village, thinking it could swagger from one end of the village to the other. But it didn't expect that some mortals would get up even earlier than it!
Unexpectedly, after nearly a year of not visiting, this usually peaceful little village has seen an unfamiliar mortal.
This mortal man, who looked quite young, walked alone through the morning mist as the sun rose.
Because of this person's appearance, the red fox could no longer enjoy its meal in the village. It should have been angry for a while, but when it saw the mortal's face, its ears suddenly twitched.
This mortal had a face that was different from everyone else's.
His nose was more prominent than others, his eyes were brighter, and even his gait was quite different.
The red fox forgot about eating the chicks and quietly followed him to the village chief's house. Seeing that he seemed about to knock on the village chief's door, it left silently.
Of course, it had to share something so interesting with its sisters right away.
They fell off their mother together, and for some reason, the sisters were able to transform into different forms in a short time. The red fox was puzzled for a moment, then forgot about all the complicated matters.
Just as it had clearly been very dissatisfied with Baozhu's behavior, seeing Baozhu's absent-minded appearance, it immediately forgot about taking Baozhu to see that mortal, and just tilted its head to look into Baozhu's eyes.
Baozhu patted the red fox's head and sighed, "If you knew that in my past life, it was because of the person you took me to see that we never saw each other again, would you still take me there?"
The meaning behind the sentence was too complex, and the red fox shook its tail in bewilderment, indicating that it did not understand.
"I'll stay here with you for the rest of my life, okay?" Baozhu stretched out another finger and tapped the red fox's black nose.
The red fox understood that Baozhu wanted to stay with her, and happily wagged its tail and gently rubbed against Baozhu.
Baozhu looked up at the distant view, which was obscured by trees.
Li Zhi —
Let's never see each other again in this lifetime.
If they hadn't met, they might both have been able to live a good life.
A wave of indescribable emotions welled up in Baozhu's heart. She lowered her eyes and said dejectedly to the red fox, "Let's go back."
The red fox hesitated for a moment, and was about to obey and turn back when it suddenly heard a faint noise coming from the forest.
It stopped, turned its head, twitched its nose, and sniffed gently.
Baozhu also stopped in place and looked at the path that was faintly visible in the woods.
A figure appeared on the path, his steps light and quick, walking towards Baozhu and the red fox.
He was just a mortal.
Startled, the red fox instinctively darted into the nearby bushes.
But Baozhu stood rooted to the spot as if her feet were made of lead.
She hesitated for only a moment before the mortal drew near, and a person who was both familiar and unfamiliar came into view.
In an instant, the fox demon's heart defied her will and began to pound.
Eighteen-year-old Li Zhi stood there stunned for a long time.
When the two looked at each other, it was as if time stood still, and the ceaseless chirping of insects in the forest came to an abrupt halt.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Zhi seemed to awaken from a dream. He gazed at the precious pearl that seemed to blend into the mountains and forests, and carefully cupped his hands, saying, "There are many insects in the mountains, why is Miss all alone?"
Just then, a few rays of sunlight pierced through the forest and shone on the young Li Zhi's face. His face was wrinkle-free, his eyes were bright, and his lips looked incredibly soft.
He stood very straight, and his flesh and bones made his linen clothes look very good.
He is still alive; death is still a long way off for him.
Baozhu's eyelashes trembled, and it took her a lot of effort to suppress the feeling of something in her throat. She lowered her head, adopting the cautious demeanor befitting a mortal young lady, and did not answer Li Zhi's question.
Her mind went blank; she only regretted not having retreated faster.
Li Zhi seemed oblivious to Baozhu's resistance. He raised the corners of his mouth and cupped his hands again, saying, "I am Li Zhi, currently residing in Fuxia Village. I am not a bad person. If you get lost in the mountains, Miss, you may come down with me."
Baozhu almost forgot that the young scholar Li Zhi was also arrogant and unrestrained. When they first met, Li Zhi's shrewdness was not as deep as it would be after more than ten years of ups and downs in the officialdom.
Li Zhi refused to back down easily, so Baozhu had to bring up the words she had spoken when they first met in their previous life: "I am from Fushan County. My servants are going to the mountains to fetch water and will be back soon."
After saying this, she covered her face with her hand, as if ashamed to talk to a man, behaving like a young lady.
Upon hearing this, Li Zhi was about to say something when Baozhu gently tapped her left hand behind her back. A wisp of smoke drifted into the forest, and soon a lifelike middle-aged maid carrying a water jug emerged from the woods, silently standing in front of Baozhu.
Given this demeanor, Li Zhi could not say anything more. He could only bid farewell to Baozhu with regret on his face and turn to walk down the mountain.
On the way back, his steps were not as light as when he went up the mountain.
Baozhu was in a state of turmoil, twisting her fingers and staring at his back for a long while.
After a while, she couldn't help but let out a soft "Eh."
If she wasn't mistaken, there seemed to be a faint trace of resentment about Li Zhi.
It was filled with malice, clinging to his body.
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